Nightmare
by DumplingSoup
Summary: Angst One shot. Based off the idea by Megatraven on tumblr about how Marinette has nightmares about her akumatized friends.


Wind slashed against Marinette's face. Rain pelted her skin—a falling wall of bullets. Her legs were moving if she looked down, but the backend void that provided no light around her seemed like an endless that provided her no ways of moving forward. She was being held by the invisible strings of darkness that wrapped tightly around her, squeezed her tightly in an embrace that reeked close to danger.

A purple mist wound around Marinette, bobbed up and down in an intricate dance. Figures extended from above the mist—shapeless figures with dark smiles. Yet, even in their shapeless forms, Marinette recognized each figure. She could hear the tear in her heart loud and clear, feel the ache in her chest like a war mallet hit her with full force. They pointed at her with their crooked smiles. A bout of laughter erupted in the air. The ground shook. The air vibrated like they were loud, beating drums.

Suddenly, Marinette snapped her head behind her. Her eyes locked onto the figure walking towards her. Each step echoing heavily through the void. A spot light flashed on Marinette. She moved her hand in front of her face, closing her eyes as the light stung her eyes.

 _"Time's up."_

She recognized that voice. Her eyes snapped open, and sure enough it was Alya, but this time she wasn't her normal self—she was Lady Wifi. A shiver ran over her as Marinette took in the malicious aura seeping out from her.

She took a step back when Lady Wifi took a step forward. Trying desperately, Marientte opened her mouth. Reason! There had to be reason behind this. But no sound came out. Was her mouth even moving?

 _"We all want to know,"_ Lady Wifi said, _"who you really are behind that mask, Ladybug. Well, it's time to figure it out."_

Marinette looked down at herself quickly. Sure enough, she was wearing Ladybug's costume. "How did I—"

She slapped her mouth. The sound of her own voice sent her heart hammering against her chest. Ladybug looked up to Lady Wifi, she called Alya's name desperately, her voice cracking as she looked at her friend.

The pain, the hurt, the feelings of loneliness when no one believes you. They resonated inside of her heart. So strong, so overwhelming, Ladybug clutched her chest like she couldn't breath. She bent down on one knee, squinting as she tried to look back to her friend. Ladybug had to save her.

Lady Wifi snapped her fingers. The purple fog oozed out from around Ladybug. Two figures appeared next her—Nathaniël and Max. They took her arms in their grasp, pulling her up to stand on her feet. Ladybug tried to struggle, but the strength held in their grips was too strong for her to break free.

Her body felt like iron lead—the crippling burden of heavy emotions.

Without a wasted second, Lady Wifi was standing in front of Ladybug. Her lips curled into a grin. A purple mask glowed on her face. She reached for Ladybug's mask, her fingernail digging under the mask. Her touch made Ladybug squirm.

Ladybug shook her head. "Don't do this, Alya," she pleaded. "You're better than this. What happened to respecting Ladybug."

 _"You're right. Alya does respect Ladybug. But I'm not Alya."_ Lady Wifi turned around, throwing out her arms in a grand gesture, her voice resonating through the darkness. _"Ladies and Gentleman, it's the time you've all been waiting for. Today we're about to reveal who's behind the mask of Ladybug. And she is—"_ She turned around. In one steady movement, Lady Wifi ripped the mask off Ladybug's face. _"—Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"_

Gasps filtered through the air. Silence slammed each mouth closed, like putting criminals behind bars.

 _"Looks like our charity case klutz had a pretty big secret she was keeping."_

Despite Alya's words that slammed hard against her, it wasn't that, the silence, or the glaring looks that caught Marinette's attention; it was how both Max and Nathaniel looked at Marienette. Their faces were twisted. A if they were in some kind of physical pain, they cried out, their faces starting to drip, drip, drip—melting as if they were plastic put to a fire. Their figures flicked black and white for a moment. Marinette watched as they transformed into The Evillistrator and The Gamer.

In sync, their grasp tightened around her. _"This is all your fault!"_ the roared together, voices distorted like a bad static. _"You did this to us. You hurt us and now you can't fix it!"_

Shaking her head, Marinette opened her mouth to reply, but her voice was gone again. She clenched her teeth as the formless figures started to surround her. Their mouths moved in the silence, but their voices slowly started to come to live.

Marinette tried to place her hands over her ears, but the grip of the supervillains holding her hadn't loosened at all. The scream of her heart couldn't be quelled even in the almost deafening silence. The sting of the words piercing through her wasn't going away.

 _That's Ladybug—Marinette? What a joke!_

 _A clutz like Marinette? What a rip off._

 _I used to like Ladybug, but now… I feel cheated._

 _You can't be serious. Who paid you to pretend?_

 _Where's the real Ladybug?_

 _Get out, you fake!_

All of a sudden the chatter was cut short. Lady Wifi's eyes flew open. A small trail of blood fell from the corner of her mouth. Marinette looked to the weapon shining red that was thrust through her abdomen. She coughed, blood pouring out. The weapon retracted as the transformation wore off.

In front of Marinette stood Alya, a single tear pouring down her face. Blood soaked through her clothes, and Marinette struggled in the grip of the supervillians holding her to break free, but she still wasn't strong enough. She was held back as she watched Alya collapse to the floor.

Behind Alya's unmoving body stood Chat Noir. His face was covered in specks of blood, his staff dripping the red liquid to a pool on the ground. He frowned, his eyes twinkling with regret and sadness that was destroying her insides like a collapsing domino effect.

"Chat Noir…" Marientte breathed out, shaking her head head as she looked back and forth from Alya to Chat. "No, you'd never do this, it's—"

"Well, Ladybug's not here." Chat stuck out his staff, pointing it to the Evillistrator. "This is the only way."

 **.x.**

Marinette gasped, rising from her stupor in an incredible speed. Tikki made a noise from next to her pillow as she went to float in front of Marinette. She clutched her chest, sweat dripping from her forehead. Her eyes scanned the darkened room, her breathing slowly returning back to normal.

"Marinette," Tikki called, rubbing next to her cheek. "Marinette, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

"A bad dream?" Marinette looked lifelessly at Tikki, taking her in her hands to set her on her lap. "No… it was a nightmare."

"Marinette! You're crying. What kind of dream did you have?"

Instead of replying to Tikki, Marinette jumped out of her bed. She made her way to her desk, unplugging her phone from the charger. With a few clicks, she placed the phone next to her ear as a few rings filled the silence of night.

That must have been the most scariest part.

"Maarineeeette," Alya's growl came through the speakers. "It's two in the morning. What the hell do you want?"

"Alya…"

"Oh my god, Marinette, are you crying? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Marinette sniffed her nose, wiping the tears off one of her cheeks. "I'm so glad you're okay. I love you, Alya."


End file.
